Improved machine for stirring lard



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Lard Cooler. y No. 37,469. Patented Jan. 2o, 1863. 1

Fay 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE@A` WILLIAM J. WILCOX, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

lMPPtOVED MACHINE FOR STIRRING LAFlD.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,469, dated January 20, 1.863.

To aJZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that L-WILLIAM J. WrLooX, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus for Stirring Lard; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section of this invention. Fig. 2 is a transvcrservertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan or top View of the same. v

Similar letters of reference in the three views indicate corresponding parts.

. The object of this invention is to execute the operation of stirring lard by steam or other competent power in place of hand-power usually employed for this purpose.

The invention consists in the employment or use of flat perforated dashers, which move in an oblong tank, extended from one side of the same to the other, and which are hinged to staffs connected to reciprocating rods moving in opposite directions, one carrying one and the other two dashers, in such a manner that when the device is in motion the single dasher attached to one of the reciprocating rods works between and in opposition to the two dashers attached to the other rod, and that by these means the lard in the tank is thoroughly stirred, and when it begins to cool the hinged dashers can be turned up out of the way and the lard drawn off into suitable packages.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A represents a tank, made of wood or other suitable material, in ordinary form or shape of tanks such as are vin common use for cooling lard. After the lard has been heated in a suitable pan or vessel it is let down into the cooling-tank, and it must now be stirred for a considerable time until it becomes cool. The operation of stirringis usually performed with a long stick or paddle, to which motion :is imported by hand, and great care must be taken to stir the lard uniformly throughout the whole tank, because that portion of the lard which is not stirred granulates in cooling, and its market value is thereby depreciated. For this reason it would not answer to impart to the paddle a rotary motion, because in this case the lard at or near the circumference of the tank would be moved with a much greater velocit-y than the lard at or near to the center, and while the outside portion in this case cools ott' rapidly the inner portion of the lard remains in a liquid state for a long time, and when it begins to congeal it is liable to granulate. rlhe motion given to the paddle by hand is irregular and cannot easily be imitated by machinery, and for this reason the operation of stirring lard is generally performed by hand, at great expense in time and labor.

My tank is provided with two standards, B, one at either end. These standards are slotted and form the guides for rods C C', to which a reciprocating motion is imparted by cranks D D. These cranks connect with the rods C C by means of pitmen a a', and they are placed an angles of one hundred and eighty degrees toward each other, so that the motion of one rod is in a direction opposite to that of the other. The rod G carries one dasher, E, which is hinged to a staff, F, said staff being secured to the rod C, at or near to its center, by akey or wedge, b. The rod C carries two dashers, E', which are hinged to staffs F', that are attached to the rod C', at equal distance from its center, by keys or wedges b'. The dashers E E are so arranged that the same can be made rigid with the staffs by means of keys c c', dropping in suitable sockets, d d', above and below the hinge-joint on each staff, and

by raising said keys the dashers can be turned up and secured in a reverse position by means of hooks e e.

The cranks D D, which impart motion to the rods C C', are secured to a shaft, G, to which a continuous rotary motion is imparted by steam or any other competent power, and friction-rollers f f', secured in the standards B, above and below the rods C C', facilitate the motion. When the lard from the heatingpan has been let` into the cooling-tank, the dashersE E are set in motion, and they pass through the lard in opposite directions. The motion of the dashers is so regulated that the lard throughout the whole tank is stirred uniformly, the dashers E being made to sweep from the ends of the tank toward its center,

and the,dasher E meetingthe dashers E alternatelyy in the middle between the center of the tank A and its ends. After the lard has been stirred sufficiently, the dashers E E are turned up and secured in aninverted position by the hooks e e, and the lardis now drawn off in suitable packages.

By this device the operation'of stirring lard can be performed with the greatest ease and perfectly uniform, and a superior article is produced in less time and with less labor than by the ordinary mode of treating lard.v

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The employment or use, for the purpose of stirring lard, of dat perforated dashers E E attached by vhinge-joints to staffs F F', which are secured to reciprocating rods C C', movin g in opposite directions, all constructed and operating substantially in the manner and for` the purpose herein shown and described.

WILLIAM WILCOX. lWitnesses: v M. S. PARTRIDGE, DANIEL RoBERTsoN. 

